Explaining American Exceptionalism

This chapter discusses that issues and poltics of social inequality in America . The author discusses that during the periods between the revolutionary and civil war. In this period blacks were freed from slavery and they were the primary labor force in the south, but they were not allowed to join unions, this weakened the unions that did exist. The New Deal is also discussed in relation to its cause of migration of blacks from the south to the north. This migration disabled the south’s ability to function as a separate nation. Americans soon had to face the idea of social equality, an issue that was brought to the forefront in the civil rights movements of the 1960s.

The author then goes on to analyze the attempt made to reconstruct racial politics. The three explainations offered are the policy centered approach, the legacy of the weak working class, and the legacy of strong liberal values. The policy centered approach states that the civil administration was not protected from partisan use and parties used government jobs to mobilize their clients and reward activists. Politicians battled over the spoils of office rather than programmatic appeals. The weak working class explaination is that the weakness of the American labor movement has been a product and producer of racial divisions. The explaination of the strong liberal values is that the liberal idea is to distrust the government and avoid government intervention. Support for interventions dissipates when civil right and liberties are in danger.

The last chapter of the book talks about the three welfare reforms and how they have failed in contributing to social equality. This failure is a failure to live up to American ideals of liberty and also democratic rights.

I feel the looming racial tension is caused by many of the things discussed in this chapter. I also feel that there are other factors that have played into the inequality of blacks. The effect that government policies have had on social inequality is profound. I feel that even before these policies were created there were people supporting the idea that blacks are inferior. There were many “scientific” breakthroughs that supposedly showed that blacks were inferior biologically and therefore were inferior to all other races. These arguments were ultimately shown to be false, but the mindset of Americans has not completely changed.

Propaganda was used then to keep the blacks inferior and I feel it is also used today through main stream media and stereotypical representations of black Americans. Although science has proven that there is hardly any variation between “races”, there is still a tensions between people of different races. I feel this tension is caused by our learned cultural identity and others perceptions of that identity.